1617-0028 - London Borough of Islington Pension Fund Management Services – Emerging and Frontier Mar...

The London Borough of Islington Pension fund (the “Fund”) is seeking expressions of interest from investment managers that have the capability to manage c. £60m of its assets on an active basis within both emerging and frontier markets.


Current status / Background
The Fund currently has a c. 7% allocation to emerging market equity through two passive mandates (following respectively a market capitalisation and a fundamental indexation approach). The Pensions Sub-Committee agreed to reduce this allocation to c.6% but also to evolve the allocation to move to an active emerging markets mandate that has significant exposure to frontier markets. It has alsoagreed to consider both debt and equity products as well as multi-asset funds.

The requirement
At this stage, applications will be accepted from managers who manage equity, bond, multi-asset or other mandates from these markets. The Fund is not interested in stand-alone emerging markets only or frontier markets only products. The Fund has discretion to amend the size of the investment and mandate requirements.
The appointed investment manager(s) will be expected to manage the assets in accordance with the Local Government Pension Scheme regulations.

Reservation and Qualification

a) Reserved for a Particular Profession
Yes. Requests to participate will only be accepted from organisations authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to conduct investment business in the United Kingdom (or overseas equivalent thereof).

b) Law, Regulation or Administrative Provision
Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 as amended (or overseas equivalent thereof).

c) Names and Qualifications of Personnel
Required.

TUPE [Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations]

Potential providers must be aware that TUPE may or may not apply to this service. Further details will be available in the invitation to tender.

Contract Period

The contract is expected to run for 60 months (5 years) with the option to extend up to a further 36 months (3 years) to delivery of performance targets with regular performance reviews. However, under the Local Government Pension Scheme regulations, the Fund may terminate the contract at any time.



Contract Value

The estimated total value of assets to be managed on behalf of the “Fund” is in the region of £60,000,000 at commencement of management.

Qualifications

The awarding authority has retained Mercer to advise on the selection process and so will be able to access all of the information held on Mercer’s Global Investment Manager Database (“GIMD”) (www.mercergimd.com).

The selection process, including the initial decision on which managers are to be invited to proceed to the next stage, will rely on information provided in GIMD. We recommend therefore that candidates ensure that the input they have submitted to GIMD is up to date for the proposed strategies or products. If the information in GIMD is not up to date, the candidate’s application may be disadvantaged.

Suppliers shortlisted will be required to participate in a due diligence clarification review to verify submitted material. The clarification will be with the Council, agents of the Council, or both, on the supplier’s premises.

Shortlisted suppliers will be required to attend an interview as part of a weighted selection process (see below), to be held in the Council’s premises.

Award criteria

The contract will be awarded to the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations. MEAT for this contract is weighted quality 85% and cost 15 %. Further details will be provided in the invitation to tender.

Cost 15%
Quality 85%

Quality made up of:

Written Proposal on investment process, idea generation, portfolio construction and implementation. 25%
Presentation on the above - 5%

Written proposal on Strategy 15%
Presentation on the above 5%

Written proposal on corporate structure, ownership of organisation and competitive
edge 10%
Presentation on the above 5%

Written proposal on approach to Governance 15%
Presentation on the above 5%



Total 100%

Tenderers should be aware that we reserve the right to hold site visits and/or presentations and/or interviews during the tender process. Site visits and/or presentations and/or interviews will be for verification/clarification purposes of the written submission. Tenderers will be notified in advance of the dates.

We reserve the right to interview leading bidders.

Procurement Process

This contract is over the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) threshold in terms of monetary value.

This contract will be procured using the Open Procedure. The Open Procedure means that all bidders who successfully express an interest will automatically be invited to tender and have access to the tender documents. Those who submit a tender and meet the minimum requirements will have their full tender, method statements and pricing evaluated.

How to express an interest

If you wish to apply for this contract please follow the steps below:


Register your company free of charge via the London Tenders Portal.
Link: https://procontract.due-north.com

Await acceptance. You will receive an email confirming your username and password.

Use your username and password to log into the London Tenders Portal and express your interest in 1617-0028 – London Borough of Islington Pension Fund Management Services- Emerging Frontier Markets Exposure - category 665200000-1

Shortly after you have expressed interest, you will receive a second email containing a link to access the tender documents.

Deadlines

The deadline for expressions of interest is: 11.59am, 20 June 2016
Submission of /Tender documents by: Noon, 20 June 2016
Late submissions will not be accepted.